Rolled out early early last Saturday looking for some mood pictures in the morning fog. I was hoping for one of those pre-dawn shots where the sky is just starting to lighten and the fog doesn’t quite reach the hilltops?

Problem with the Highlands and Johnstown, though: it’s tough to find a vantage point high enough and the fog low enough to get the photo right.

First, I headed up the MoxhamVu overlook on Belmont Hill. Nothing but a sea of white. So I dropped down a bit and grabbed a few shots of under the fog from the top of Wheat Street in Moxham. From there, a change of tactics, and I headed up to Grandview to try and capture a mood instead of an atmosphere.

They’ve got a saying in New England: “Don’t like the weather? Wait a minute.” Well, Johnstown weather doesn’t change that quickly, but the sky and the light certainly do. I barely got a handful of shots around the cemetery entrance when the fog appeared to lift. Before packing up, I took a quick run over to the Incline Plane to see what was up there. Pleanty of fog in the valley and a brief glimpse of Cover Hill across the way. Then, a minute after I snapped the shot of the Yoder Hill, the entire hilltop socked in.

And that’s when I realized I was trespassing. I had no idea they could pop me for trespassing for taking pictures from the observation platform. Welcome to the Friendly City. Anyway, short story longer, it being after my normal 8am starting time, I packed up and headed for a beer. I’ve been in a fog ever since. Enjoy the photos.

On a side note, there are 2 photos below of a Grandview statue that I refer to as the Lady in White (not to be confused with the White Lady of Beulah, or the White Lady of Ghost Town Trail, or the White Lady of Wapsononock Mountain). I know of 4 other identical statues across the Northeast and Midwest: one in the suburbs north of Boston, another in upstate New York, a third in Wisconsin or Michigan (everything was a blur) and, the one I’m most familiar with, a fourth in Lancaster, PA. As the statue in Lancaster is somewhat sheltered from the elements by trees and an urban setting, and not placed out in the open on top of a mountain; and, since she comes with a real, if not necessarily true ghost story, I’ve added a post and gallery on Lancaster’s Lady in White to illustrate the poignancy and craft of 19th century memorial sculptors.

Requiescat in pace.